Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Tuesday in Lent 5

John 9:18-41v. 39 Jesus said, I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.

The Greek word usually translated "judgment" is the word from which we get the English "crisis." I find that helpful in understanding what Jesus means by the judgment which he brings (particularly in John's Gospel). Jesus creates a crisis situation.

Jesus has just healed a blind man, given him sight. The story is an "enacted parable." The story is about much more than the literal story. What it is really about is the line quoted above. Jesus creates a crisis in which those who do not see are allowed to see and those who think they already see are shown to be blind.

This is bad news for folk (who are sometimes us) who think they see things very clearly. We need to be extremely careful when we feel this way, because there probably is some way in which we are being blind. We cannot see the big picture, perhaps, because of our over-attention on a detail. Or, conversely, we think we know so much what the big picture is that we miss the crucial details.

Perhaps a good related metaphor is to assume that we always need glasses. None of us has perfect eyesight. It's very important that we get the right lens so that we can see clearly. For we Christians, Jesus is that lens. He provides us with the sight. Sometimes what he causes us to see puts us into a crisis--we have to think differently because we have seen differently.

Lord Jesus, give us your sight so that we may see the world as you see it.